


RWBY: First Light

by cozybay



Series: The Daylight Series [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26624161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cozybay/pseuds/cozybay
Summary: First Light is my take on a retelling of RWBY's first three volumes, focusing on revising and changing the story to fit my ideas, wishes, and style while still working within the framework created by Monty, Miles, and Kerry.
Series: The Daylight Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936858
Comments: 7
Kudos: 3





	RWBY: First Light

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, my name is Bay and my pronouns are she/her! This is the start of the biggest writing project I've ever taken on and I hope that this goes well. To give some info before we get into the story proper, I don't have a schedule that I plan to stick to. My life has gotten busy as fuck recently and to say that I'll have a chapter out at a certain interval even regularly would be misleading to both myself and to any readers. I'll post chapters when they're ready and when I have time, so prepare for weeks where you get three uploads and months where you get only one. I will try and keep people updated though, so if anything really big comes up, you can expect at least some sort of update and maybe some fluff to pad out the absence.

It was Fall in Patch, the leaves turning their autumnal rainbow, giving one last beautiful hurrah before falling lifelessly to the ground. The smell of adventure was heavy in the air as a young Yang trotted down the old dirt path, Ruby following close behind. The grass grew tall, any true road long since swallowed up by nature, a sort of erosion through growth.

As the pair walked, Ruby began trailing further and further behind. Eventually, Yang stopped and turned to face her younger sister, giving a look of both annoyance and concern, the kind of look found oh so commonly on the faces of older siblings. “You sure you’re up for this?” That got Ruby’s attention, the child huffing and doubling her pace, running past Yang with her tongue stuck out. With a small laugh and a shake of her head, Yang matched Ruby’s pace, the two hurrying along much faster than before. In just a year, Yang would be 15 and heading off to start at Signal, the training academy in southern Patch. For now though, Ruby and her had a mission, one that Yang had attempted multiple times before, but never like this… this time, she had direction. According to Old Sappha, the woman that Taiyang bought eggs from, a woman with long black hair and a Grimm mask had been seen leading a group of dangerous looking people out on a farm to the west.

“Yang, are we almost there?” Ruby asked, picking up the pace even further, breaking into a full sprint. She’d always wanted to meet Yang’s mom! Sure Dad had always been hesitant and weird about her, but maybe if Raven came back then they could make up and be a family again! Ruby was pulled from the train of thought though as Yang grabbed her by the shoulder, the smaller girl almost falling on her back from being stopped so suddenly. “Yang!! Wha-” “Shhhhh… We’re here.” Yang seemed… a lot more serious all of the sudden. Stood in the center of a wheat field was three people: a short man with dog ears and a spear, a short-haired woman, and, seemingly guiding the two, a tall woman with messy black hair that came down to her waist, a white and red Grimm mask, and a massive odachi with 6 different dust blades stored in the rotary sheath. “It’s her… Ruby, it’s…” Yang stood and, almost shakily, stepped out of the forest. The second she rose from the underbrush, Raven turned to face her, hand moving to the hilt of her weapon, Omen, without a moment’s hesitation. “Mom, it’s me! Yang!” Yang announced her presence properly, slowly moving closer. Raven’s grip loosened but she didn’t let go of the blade, her other hand pointing out back towards the two flanking her, signalling for them both to stay back. “I don’t know who you are, kid, but I’d say you need to go home.” Yang hesitated for a moment, her hands clenching up as she continued moving closer. “I’ve tried for years to find you and here you are, I’m not leaving.” Raven shook her head, mumbling about “stupid, stubborn kids”. “I told you to go home.” Yang’s eyes turned red, now close enough that she could get a good look at Raven. “Don’t try to parent me now.” Raven sighed and turned away, her lips parting as she started to say something, but seemingly stopped herself. “Well? Why did you leave? You at least owe me that.” “Yang.” “Answer me.” “Yang, you shouldn’t let yourself be blinded by anger.” 

Yang froze at that, the words snapping her out of it enough that she picked up on the noises now coming from the forest. She pivoted around in an instant, sprinting at a breakneck pace back to the forest. “RUBY!!!” She shouted, getting to the forest line at the last second, the shout having managed to draw the attention of the Grimm away from Ruby… and onto her. The black beast rose up on its hind legs, standing at nearly twice Yang’s height, a bone mask covering its face with bone spikes jutting out from its back. It let out a blood-curdling, angry roar as it swung down at Yang, its claws aiming to tear into her shoulder. She wasn’t defenseless though. Just because Yang hadn’t started officially training didn’t mean that she was completely inexperienced when it came to fighting, Taiyang needed a sparring partner when he was feeling up to working out after all. Yang ducked to the right, moving her left foot back so she stood with her right side facing the Ursa. As it swiped at her again, this time aiming for the stomach, she moved in close and punched it in the gut. Orange and yellow wisps licked at her mane of hair as her eyes stared up at the Grimm, redder than even the beasts. “Don’t you dare touch her!!” Yang reeled back and let loose a flurry of aimless, uncontrolled punches, a roar of her own tearing out from her throat as she pummeled the Ursa. The creature was pushed back a bit, but wasn’t fazed, interrupting Yang’s explosion of violent anger with a swipe, slamming Yang to the side and, quite literally, into a tree, the hotheaded blonde being planted firmly into the trunk. “Nghhh… Come on…” She grumbled and pushed herself up, Ruby rushing over to her. “Yang! Are you ok?!” Yang spat out a glob of blood and bile with a smirk, her hair flaring right back up. “Yup, you stay back.” She let out another primal shout as she dashed towards the Ursa once again, her fists coated in a flaming, chaotic aura. The next swipe the Ursa threw hit its mark, it hit Yang square-on. The bruiser didn’t budge an inch though, giving an almost crazed laugh as she hit the Ursa’s gut harder than she’d ever hit something before. It let out a pained roar, spitting up black blood onto the grass and stumbling back. “Wow… Go Yang!” Ruby cheered as Yang turned the tides, Raven and her entourage still watching from the field. “Yeah, don’t mess with me or my sister!” Yang shouted as she pulled her feet up from their place in the dirt and strolled over to the fallen beast. As she stomped down on its head and readied to finally end it, the Ursa began to grumble, its body shaking as it pushed up against Yang, knocking her off it and back as it stood up. More spikes grew from its body as a sort of purple-red glow surrounded it, the roar it gave sounding almost otherworldly and its eyes going dark, the red light fading away. It swiped at Yang, knocking her to the ground easily, a pattern of gold cracks racing across her body before her aura faded away, gold flecks of energy floating away in the air as everything went dark for Yang.

Yang gave a pained grumble as she pushed up off the ground, her arms shaking and blood dripping from several cuts. As she got up onto her knees a sharp pain in her side let her know that she had most certainly broken some ribs. “Dammit…” She groaned before promptly coughing up a glob of blood and mucus, heaving as the pain only grew worse. She had no aura left, no way to use her semblance, no weapons… As she opened her eyes, all self-loathing thoughts were shoved out of the way as her eyes focused and she saw what had happened since she was knocked out. Ruby laid on the ground, pinned and bleeding heavily from her gut, making almost no effort to dodge anymore as the beast bore down on her, claws readying for one final strike. “Ruby… RUBYYY!!!” In an instant, all feelings of pain left Yang’s body as she lunged forward like a wild animal. Her eyes were unfocused, her stance nonexistent, and her blood boiling as she threw herself between the Ursa and her little sister. “I told you… don’t you dare hurt her!!!” Yang threw punches faster than she ever had before, even faster than her semblance had allowed her to earlier. Running on pure adrenaline and losing more blood every second, Yang threw everything she had into every last punch, a painful sounding mix of a scream and a roar tearing out from her throat. The Ursa was pushed back bit by bit, each punch sending a shockwave across the surface of its body, seemingly too stunned to attack. “You bastard!!! Why won’t you just-” A flicker of white flashed through her hair. “Stay-” Another flicker, the forest around them lighting up temporarily with gold and white light and flame. “DOWN?!” The Ursa fell, Yang wasting no time stomping on its head, her mane now bright white with golden edges, flickering and crackling like real flame as wisps of the same rage-fueled fire licked at every inch of her, leaving the (normally) blonde wreathed in power previously unknown. 

“Y- Yang…” Ruby whimpered from the sidelines as the black dust of the grimm’s body faded away into the wind. As quickly and suddenly as the new height of power was reached, it disappeared, leaving Yang to fall to her knees. She was bleeding all over, had several broken ribs, hell she was too tired to even stand. A bit of light did return to her downtrodden gaze, though, as she felt Ruby gently hug onto her. “You saved us… you’re a huntress… just like Mom…” From exhausted, to bittersweet, and now to an unreadable mix of sorrows and anger. Raven had left in the chaos… She was willing to let them both die… She was no mom. She was less than a stranger. And Summer? That thought only brought Yang closer to tears as she quietly recalled every bit of pain that loss had left with her. Sniffling, Yang nodded and wrapped an arm around Ruby. “Y- yeah… just like…” She trailed off.

Later that evening, the two would make it home to a worried sick Taiyang and endless hours of both concerned doting and furious scolding. Though none of the injuries would be lasting thankfully, one thing most certainly would be. Yang would never see Raven as a parent ever again, never seek her out for the sake of seeking her out ever again. That had been a perfect chance for them to reconnect, to fight together, to show that she could protect, and instead? Instead she had left them to die. Yang’s semblance would have plenty of fuel for days to come…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter, just to get us started and to have some fun doing prologues. Think of this as almost First Light's version of the color character shorts! After this I'll probably be doing two more prologues and then we'll be on to the big stuff!


End file.
